1. Field Of The Invention:
The present invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for sculpturing of lawns and, more specifically, to a lawn sculpturing blade for use with a rotary lawn mower and the method of utilizing the sculpturing blade to provide a sculptured effect to a lawn.
2. Description Of The Prior Art:
People have long taken pride in the appearance of their property, and particularly in the appearance of their lawn. This has become increasingly so with the advent of soaring real estate prices. In response, people have begun taking greater and greater interest in the overall appearance and design of their property. One way that people have been improving the aesthetics of their property is through the implementation of intricate landscaping schemes. Large amounts of money are often spent on landscaping as professional landscapers are often required to design and perform the manual labor involved in landscaping.
No matter how pleasingly the landscaping improves the beauty of the property, if the property does not have a well-kept and aesthetically pleasing lawn, it will appear unkempt, and will offset any efforts put into landscaping and other property upkeep.
Since the introduction of rotary lawnmowers driven by internal combustion engines, various improvements have been made in the grass cutting blades utilized. The improvements, however, have been concentrated on the provision of mulching of the grass, improved expulsion of the grass clippings out of the lawnmower and into a collection bag, and ease of replacement of dulled lawnmower blades. However, to the best of applicants knowledge, no blades for use with rotary lawnmowers have been designed specifically for providing sculpturing effect to a lawn.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,908,128 issued to Mauro discloses a lawnmower blade which is designed to provide a twin blade action. That is, it is designed to cut the grass into small clippings so that they are readily dispensed from the lawnmower chamber. This patent does disclose a downwardly offset cutting blade portion (13, 113, 213), but because the downwardly offset cutting edge of this device constitutes a major portion of the cutting edge, it will not provide a sculpturing effect such as provided by the present invention. FIG. 12 of this patent does show that use of the disclosed blade results in a row design wherein outer portions of the grass in each row are cut in a manner that they are higher than the grass portions in the center of the row. However, this will not result in a sculpturing effect in most cases because as the lawnmower is traversed along rows adjacent to the first row, the blade will cut the portion of the grass which had previously been left higher. Furthermore, if the operator of the lawnmower intentionally operates the lawnmower in a manner to avoid cutting of the higher portions of the grass, the grass will appear ragged, and as if the lawn had been mowed in a haphazard fashion.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,576,884, 3,243,944, 3,780,509 and 4,254,607 also disclose lawnmower blades with downwardly offset portions of the cutting edge, but each of these blades is so designed for purposes other than sculpturing.
More particularly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,576,884 issued to Leigh discloses a blade which has removable cutting blades attached at both upper and lower portions of the blade. The purpose behind this design is to allow the removable blade to be repositioned when the lower blade dulls, such that the upper and lower blade portions are reversed. The theory behind this design is that the lower blade provides most of the cutting action and is thus worn more quickly.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,243,944 to Michaud discloses downwardly offset blades at the outer end of the cutter blade. These downwardly offset blades are radially adjustable to provide a larger cutting area and are removable for ease of replacement. The design is disclosed as providing enhanced expulsion of clippings, but is not disclosed as being utilized for lawn sculpturing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,509 to Woelffer sets forth a lawnmower blade which is split at each end along a radial line, such that the rearward portions of the blade are offset downwardly. This design does not, however, provide a sculpturing effect. Rather, this particularly blade is utilized to provide twin blade action and expulsion of grass clippings.
The entire cutting portion of the blade disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,254,607 to Moore is offset downwardly. This blade includes a rearwardly and upwardly extending fin (23) which aides in the expulsion of clippings. No sculpturing is provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,628,672 to Jones and U.S. Pat. No. 4,715,173 to Anderson each set forth a lawnmower blade which includes upwardly offset cutting edges. Jones' blade is designed so as to provide a slicing of the grass rather than a shearing. Supposedly this design provides a "cleaner" cut and results in longer blade life.
Anderson provides numerous cutting accessories which are disclosed as being for grass cutting, grass mulching and power raking. FIG. 7 of the Anderson Patent shows a blade attachment with an upwardly offset cutting edge. The blade attachment also includes numerous other cutting edges disposed at various heights and lateral locations. These numerous cutting edges each contact the grass blades, and cause repeated cutting of the grass. This repeated cutting acts to provide mulching.
Although various improvements have been made over the years in the design of lawnmower blades for rotary motors, as evidenced in the above described U.S. patents, it does not appear that any lawnmower blade has been heretofore designed for the purpose of providing a sculptured effect to a lawn.